Canberra United hit a minor hurdle on its mission to make the finals but isn't in panic mode after its 1-1 draw with Western Sydney Wanderers on Sunday.
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The result leaves United in fifth spot (21 points) on the A-League Women ladder, just behind fourth-placed Melbourne Victory (23 points) who still have to play their cross-town rivals City on Monday afternoon.
It sets up a blockbuster encounter against Victory at McKellar Park which could see a massive points swing should United have a favourable outcome from its appeal of a controversial points deduction.
"We're not going to let anything get to us," coach Njegosh Popovich said.
"We'll know what the outcome of that hearing is soon and then we can move forward. Hopefully coming into the Victory match we have some good news, and that could be a six-point turnaround game next week at home.
"And hopefully Melbourne City can do us a favour."
Despite a whopping 18 shots on goal on Sunday at Wanderers Park just six were on target as captain Michelle Heyman couldn't keep her scoring streak going, continuing her quest to reach 100 league goals.
United found itself on the back foot early after being caught napping in defence to allow a cross into the box by Sophie Harding completely against the run.
The ball skipped well past the back post before Olivia Price blasted it into the net to give the home side a 1-0 advantage.
Canberra didn't flinch, though, and 10 minutes later it was rewarded when Vesna Milivojevic nailed a stunning equaliser.
Grace Jale whipped in a ball from the right flank toward the attacking midfielder, but Milivojevic collected the cross, chested it to herself and sent a dipping strike to the top-right corner.
In the second half United denied Wanderers a crucial goal thanks to some scrambling defence from Grace Maher and Kennedy Faulknor.
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Milivojevic came agonisingly close to her double in the 61st minute only to have defenders clear it on the goal line.
After a tense arm-wrestle it came down to a 90th-minute free kick at the top of the box after Nickoletta Flannery had her legs chopped out from underneath her.
Maher stepped up and delivered a beautiful strike that dipped fast and had goalkeeper Shamiran Khamis fully outstretched, but it couldn't quite sneak under the crossbar, leaving United to settle for a 1-1 draw.
"We had our opportunities to pinch it, and we didn't. At least we didn't lose it. We're still alive with that one point," Popovich said.
"I thought Keeley Richards did really well today, and our midfielders worked very hard.
"There was a bit of wind behind that Grace Maher free kick. She's known to score those goals, it's just unfortunate for her we didn't get that bounce off the crossbar."
A-League Women - Round 17
WESTERN SYDNEY WANDERERS 1 (Olivia Price 25m) drew with CANBERRA UNITED 1 (Vesna Milivojevic 35m) on Sunday at Wanderers Park.
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